Manchester’s Contact Theatre switches to four-day week

Contact Theatre in Manchester is permanently adopting a four-day working week following a year-long trial.

Under the arrangements staff will “receive 100% pay for 80% of the time while maintaining 100% productivity”. Contact said that, while the adoption of a four-day week is still rare, is represents a “vital step towards a more sustainable and forward-thinking workplace”.

A trial of a four-day week, which involved the closure of Contact buildings on Mondays, ran from March 2023 to March 2024, resulted in “overwhelmingly positive findings”, the organisation said.

“Staff reported that the new working week allowed them to pursue voluntary, educational and caring responsibilities, as well as enhancing their working networks,” it added.

The theatre’s production manager Adam Steed said the four-day week “opened up opportunities within the industry” for him.

“I’m able to engage with additional contracts and keep creatively contributing as a theatre maker, whilst still being part of Contact and its wider community,” he said.

“This has enabled me to develop new skills which I can bring back and utilise in our theatre.”

‘Great step forward’

Another member of staff said: “I find the four-day week gives me time to focus on completing life admin, such as doctors’ appointments, allowing me to be 100% focused on my job on my four working days.”

Contact said that following the end of the trial in March 2024, there was a delay in the announcement of the four-day week being made permanent, so all staff were properly consulted, any concerns were addressed, and the new structure had “fully settled”.

Contact CEO Jack Dale-Dowd said, “The adoption of the 100:80:100 model on a permanent basis is a great step forward for Contact and the wider sector.

“People’s lives have changed from the standard work week and I’m really proud that we’ve been able to be at the forefront of this development, whilst maintaining to deliver huge impact for our young people and communities.”

Reflating reserves

The move comes amid ongoing financial challenges for Contact. Annual accounts filed by the Manchester theatre in January for the year ending March 2024 show that it recorded a deficit of £510,000 – the third year running its outgoings have exceeded income.

Meanwhile, its reserve fund has gone into the red by nearly £30,000.

“Our goal is to maintain three months’ operating costs, however, we end the financial year with deficit of £29,127,” the annual report said.

“Post year-end reserves continued to be depleted, expenditure reductions were initiated, including a recruitment freeze for non-critical posts and staffing restructure.

“[A renewed focus] on ways of working to enable activities to continue, focusing on income generation over the coming financial year, is underway in order to build resilience and reflate reserves gradually.”